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Friday, July 15, 2011

Learning New Things Every Day....

No...not me. Not YET!

So, last night I DID go to the gym and worked out. I actually did 3.6 miles on the bike in 10 minutes...a leisurely pace that opened up my knee a bit, but didn't overly stress it. It felt good to be on the bike since I wasn't planning on doing it at all. But with Angie there working out with me, I knew if I totally trashed the knee she'd be right there to help if I needed it, so I gave it a shot... with her blessing! Can I tell you how WONDERFUL it is to have your PT become your great friend and training partner?!?! She's a HUGE blessing in my life!

She also taught me new things last night. Resistance/Weight training will be just as useful for me in the long run as cardio fitness will be. Honestly, I haven't really given the same kind of effort to my circuit training as I have been to my treadmill and cycling. I've seen such incredible weight loss in the past few months since I began working out in the gym as well as the pool, and I attribute most of it to the improvement of my cardio fitness and my ability to really work hard now on the treadmill and bike. Obviously, since I still have a lot of weight to lose to reach my goal, I have been focusing on the things that I believe are making me drop weight quickest. Also, I'm training for a 5K in late September, and the bike and treadmill are really great ways to do that.

What Angie taught me, though, was that cardio workouts are only one part of what I need going on in my training. I also need to be replacing fat with muscle...and that comes from resistance/weight training. Did you know that muscles burns calories for you...WHILE YOU'RE SITTING STILL?!?!? I had NO idea!!! Like more than 7 TIMES more calories are burned by muscle! WOW! This is how fit people stay trim and lean...they burn way more calories during the day...sometimes without doing anything at all! (Well...there's a lot more to it in all fairness...but still...this is a CLEAR advantage to having muscle versus having fat!)

So, last night, I was really working out just as effectively when I used the machines for weight training as I do when I'm pouring sweat on the bike and treadmill. I was just working on a different aspect of my overall fitness. The scale isn't going to be the best measurement of my success and progress this week, I suspect. I'm not too sure it's going to move much. My pedometer isn't really registering a lot of steps for me while I'm resting my left knee! But I do believe I'm still working in the right direction. Maybe now I even have a more clear vision of what that direction is.